


The Siren's Sorrow

by Dusklugia



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But there's some HEAVY inspirations, Crying, Developing Friendships, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Flower Therapy, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I hesitate to tag this Steven Universe, No canon characters from SU, Nora is Steven, Storms, Story is good I promise, Stranded, You Figure Out The Rest, healing through music
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26473465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklugia/pseuds/Dusklugia
Summary: Nora screamed as she plunged into the swirling sea below. The water was ice cold, and she sputtered as the vile salt water burned her eyes and throat. The waves tossed her around like a rag doll, constantly pulling her beneath the surface. She wildly paddled and gasped as she breached the surface for a few sweet seconds.Now she knew where the Siren’s Sorrow had gotten its name. The howling winds sounded like someone wailing in anguish and the torrential rain seemed like the sky itself was sobbing uncontrollably. Her would-be rescuers could not reach her, battling against the tidal waves.She could do nothing but watch as the vortex reeled her in like a fish on a line until she could no longer see the ship.~The shiny bulbasaur Nora was having the best family trip ever until their ship strayed too close to the Siren's Sorrow, a hurricane that never died. Thrown overboard by the storm, Nora wakes up in a strange sanctuary within the eye of the hurricane. She's not alone, however, and finds herself face to face with the ancient creator of the hurricane, the Siren of the Storm. Will Nora be able to appeal to this melancholy being and find her way home?
Relationships: Fushigidane | Bulbasaur & Fushigibana | Venusaur, Fushigidane | Bulbasaur & Gyarados
Kudos: 3





	1. A Storm on the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally happening. After years of silently stalking around this site in a dozen different fandoms, I'm finally posting something of my own on here. I've had writers on here, friends online and in real life, and recently family even keep pushing me to post some of the backlog of stories I write. So, you know what? I admit defeat and will give into the peer pressure! With luck, this will be the first of many.
> 
> So, this is a PMD story I originally posted on Deviantart for a group called Tales of Tabira. Long story short, Tabira is continent inhabited by only sentient pokemon a la Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, and its capital city also called Tabira is run by guilds which employ all the rescue teams. That's...really all that's essential to know for now in this series of mine. Sadly the group closed, but I still have so many ideas to write. Maybe someone on here will enjoy them?
> 
> Also, just to be clear with the tagging, this is going to be an original pokemon story in a PMD universe BUT a lot of inspiration for the characters and even some of the plot points came from Steven Universe. Nothing from SU like Gems or Beach City appears in this whatsoever, but there will be some references for sharp eyed readers. However, you DO NOT need to know anything about Steven Universe to understand this story. Everything is (hopefully) self-explained enough to follow.

Nora didn’t often get the opportunity to travel on ships, but when she did, it always gave her a thrill. It had been a “just because” gift from her dad, Emery. A week’s vacation to the Scattered Isles, just the two of them, to relax and have fun. She knew it must have been hard for him to plan such a trip, half because her dad could be a little disorganized but also half because of the treaty between Algeen and Tabira making water travel more of a hassle. 

The little green bulbasaur let out a content sigh as she leaned against the wooden railing of the ship, gazing out over the crystal blue waves and sunbathing in the summer rays. Nora could think deeper into this sudden trip, her dad’s reasons behind it. She might be innocent, but Nora wasn’t so naive to not realize the anniversary of her mom’s...passing was right around the corner. Honestly, it still seemed so surreal to her even after so many years had passed...that it was just her and her dad now. She knew everything had been harder without her mom, and her dad had kind of shut down for a while afterwards. He was distant, too wrapped up in his own pain, to be there when Nora needed him (needed anyone) most. Their tight bond had been strained almost to the point of breaking. 

Things had gotten better in the last year or two, and Nora still loved her dad more than anything in the whole wide world. He was still hurting, she could tell, and he went out of his way when he could to repair the bond between the two of them despite Nora’s insistence that everything was fine and she was happy. She hated to dwell on the past when it only made her sad.

Nora shook her head to clear away all those heavy thoughts and focus back on the now. She giggled as a splash of sea spray hit her in the face, cool and salty. A school of finneon and lumineon were just visible alongside the boat from beneath the waves. The aquamarine and black fish breached the surface of the water in bunches like they were holding some sort of contest of who could jump highest, throwing up more salty spray. Nora laughed at their antics, wishing to join in the game. If only she could swim with as much ease as they could...

“Hey, sweetpea, what’s so funny?” 

Nora looked up at the familiar warm voice of her dad and saw the venusaur leaning over her, an amused smile on his face. She quickly pointed to the frolicking water types down below. 

“Look at all the finneon and lumineon! I wish I could play with them. They look like they’re having so much fun,” she said excitedly. Emery grabbed her with one of his front legs to trap her in a hug.

“I guess I should be glad then that you don’t have gills or else you might leave your boring old man for those flashy fish!” he replied with a chuckle. Nora snuggled into her dad’s embrace, hugging him back as tight as she could with her short front legs. 

“Aww, c’mon dad! You’re way cooler than them or any other mon! I much rather stay with you.” 

“Thanks, kiddo,” the venusaur said, holding the hug another moment or two before letting his daughter go. The shiny bulbasaur immediately went back to her perch by the railing, determined not to miss a single sight. Emery stood beside her, also looking out at the horizon in a peaceful silence. 

“Hey, dad,” Nora spoke up after some time, “how much longer until we get back home?” Emery looked thoughtful.

“I’m not sure, sweetpea. Can’t be too much longer now. We’ve already been sailing half the day,” he lifted a brow at Nora, “Anxious to get back on solid ground?” Nora shook her head before smiling.

“Nah, I love it out here. I was just curious.”

“Y’know what they say ‘bout curiosity, lass,” came a gruff voice from behind them. Nora and Emery both turned to see a grizzled feraligatr with a dark blue and white sailor cap and a thick brown belt around his stomach with various sailing instruments such as a telescope and compass strapped to it.

“Cap’n Murloch!” Nora greeted happily. The feraligatr gave her a toothy smile. On their first voyage to the Scattered Isles, Nora had befriended the old ship captain through sheer persistence, his gruff demeanor no match for her sweet hearted charms. She had been so happy to know his ship would be the same to ferry them back to Tabira. 

“Enjoyin’ yer voyage?” Murloch asked as he came to lean on the railing beside Nora. The bulbasaur nodded her head vigorously. “Good. We’ve bin lucky ta hit warm winds ‘n calm waters. Sea’s not always s’kind.”

“It’s really pretty,” Nora gushed as she gazed at the sparkling sapphire waters. Murloch grunted, whether in disagreement or approval was unclear but the slight softening in his craggy grimace pointed towards the latter. “How long until we reach Tabira?” she asked, looking up at the Captain. 

“Prob’ly not ‘til sundown, maybe at first light t’morrow,” Murloch answered with a shrug, “Journey back’s always a bit longer as we’ve got ta navigate ‘round the Siren’s Sorrow.” Both Nora and Emery looked to the feraligatr with equal expressions of confusion.

“Siren’s Sorrow?” Nora repeated.

“Aye,” Murloch nodded before lumbering to the bow of the ship, Nora trailing behind him. He pointed one claw towards a thick mass of grey clouds, far in the distance, swirling just above the surface of the water. “That there’s the Siren’s Sorrow. ‘Tis a monster storm that ev’ry sailor fears ‘n respects. It never moves, never dies, never lets go once a ship’s in ‘er grasp. Storm’s walls shrink ‘n grow wit’ no rhyme ‘er reason, s’ we must be wary ta not get pulled in ‘rselves.” 

Nora swallowed thickly, something sinking in her stomach as she stared at the mass of angry clouds. “Has...has anyone who’s gone inside...ever come out?” she asked in a slow, small voice. Murloch’s face became more grim as he shook his head.

“None ‘ave braved the Siren’s Sorrow’s fury ‘n lived ta tell the tale. Some say there’s an eye in there, a sanctuary, like yer common hurricane, that if ya can reach it...ya could survive,” he huffed, “But I ain’t fixin’ ta go ‘n find out if it’s true ‘r not.” Nora's face held a pensive expression, processing this information.

“You said the Siren’s Sorrow never dies,” she trailed off, “How long has it been there? Won’t it just run out of rain after a while?” The strong jaw pokemon offered the little grass type a wry smile. 

“Ya wud think. T’be honest, n’one knows when the Siren’s Sorrow was born. She’s been ‘round long as my father ‘n his father ‘n his father ‘n his father before him can r’member...’n she’s just as wild today as she was in ther days.” 

“Oh...” Nora wasn’t sure why but thinking about something so destructive going on for so long, without any beginning or foreseeable end, made her very sad. Murloch took note of the girl’s suddenly somber tone and felt a wave of guilt for darkening her usual sunny outlook.

“Don’t ya worry yerself, lass,” he said, giving her a reassuring pat and a crooked smile, “We’ll not be gettin’ near that storm. ‘Cuse me fer bringin’ it up at all.” Nora looked up at the Captain, her usual smile growing anew at the sight of his.

“It’s ok. I like hearing your stories, Cap’n Murloch!” The feraligatr gave a bellowing laugh. 

“If ya want stories, lass, I’ve got plenty...p’haps not all fer yer young ‘n pure mind,” he added the last part after glancing at Emery standing right behind his daughter. 

“Stories for Nora! Tell me, tell me, _tell me_!” Nora begged with stars in her wide eyes. Murloch felt his gnarled heart melt at the sight of those sparkling orbs, and while he should get back to directing the ship and making sure his men weren’t slacking off, he couldn’t help but fulfill the shiny bulbasaur’s request. After casting another cursory glance at her father and getting a nod of approval, the old water type launched into one of his grandest tales, chuckling at the sight of his eager audience.

*** 

Nora listened to Captain Murloch’s stories for about an hour before her dad told her it was best they return to their cabin and get some rest, the sun no more than a fiery crescent on the horizon. Begrudgingly, Nora followed him back to their room and curled up next to him. Emery had fallen asleep almost instantly, a talent of his no matter the location, but Nora was so full of energy that she found it much more difficult to settle down. After a while, her eyes began to slip close and she drifted off. 

Nora’s sleep was neither deep nor long. In fact, when she awoke, it was to the sound of howling winds and screams of panic. Fear was slow to cut through the haze of sleep surrounding her as she slid off the cot she was sleeping on. The floor lurched under her feet suddenly as the whole ship rocked violently to the side, sending the little bulbasaur tumbling into a wall. The impact, though not terribly painful, served as a forceful wake-up call for her sleep addled mind.

Shoving down the terror rapidly rising in her chest at the sound of the wind and waves battering on the ship, Nora scrambled over to her dad still sound asleep on his bed.

“Dad! Dad, wake up! I think something’s wrong!” she cried as she tried to nudge the venusaur awake. Emery groaned but otherwise showed no other sign of waking. “DAD! COME ON!” Nora shouted in his ear. Emery frowned in his sleep, before rolling over. Of all the times for her dad to sleep like a log, this was undoubtedly the worst.

Once more panicked voices rose above the roar of the wind just beyond the door of their room. Nora cast one last regretful look at her dad before running out the door. She had to find out what was going on and if there was some way she could help. Navigating the hallways outside her room was a trial in and of itself with how the ship kept rocking back and forth. Nora’s heart sank more and more with each lurch as she thought of what chaos must be going on outside.

After what felt like hours of intense struggle but was likely only minutes, Nora clamored her way onto the deck of the ship. She was immediately pelted with a heavy downpour of rain the moment she left the safety of the passengers’ quarters. Strong gusts of freezing wind cut at her like invisible razors. Nora dug in her tiny claws to avoid getting blown back down the stairs. She squinted through the rain, trying to make out any familiar faces from the chaos on deck.

The burly water types that sailed the ship were scrambling about the vessel, tying sails and trying to repair damages caused by the storm they were caught in...all while withstanding the brunt of massive waves that kept crashing onto the deck. Nora caught sight of a familiar feraligatr barking orders to his crew over the keel of the wind. Ducking from crate to crate and under the legs of some of the sailors, Nora sprinted to Captain Murloch’s side and latched onto his tail.

“Cap’n! What’s happening!?” she cried out, fear bleeding into her tone even as she tried to stay brave. Murloch jumped at the sound of her voice before turning around in a flash to gaze down at the young grass type. If the situation weren’t already so dire, Murloch’s jaw might have dropped completely to match the pure shock in his eyes at seeing Nora on deck, completely unattended and in the middle of a raging tempest. His surprise only lasted a moment before he scowled in fierce anger.

“What’n Kyogre’s name are ya doin’ ‘ere, lass!? Git below deck!” he growled, swiping at the bulbasaur with the intention of grabbing her and tossing her back to the passengers’ quarters if necessary. Nora stubbornly dodged his claws and repeated her question.

“What’s going on?!” Murloch growled again before looking up and barking another order to one of his crew. He glanced down at Nora again with a blatant glare before replying gruffly. 

“Siren’s Sorrow’s walls spread wit’ no warnin’ ‘n m’nightwatchmon fell asleep. Didn’t catch it ‘n time ‘fore we drifted t’close ta the storm. She’s tryin’ to drag us in ‘n if we don’t break free now, we’ll all meet ‘n early wat’ry grave.”

The girl’s terror, clear as day on her face, sent a wave of guilt through the old sailor’s heart at his blunt response, but she had asked, hadn’t she? He took advantage of her paralysis to snatch her up in his claws and hold her close to his chest in an effort to shield her from the storm’s wrath with his own scaly hide. Murloch lumbered back across the deck to the stairway Nora had emerged from.

The sudden movement had brought Nora back to her senses, and she tried to free herself from the Captain’s grip. “H-Hey, put me down! I w-want to help!” 

“A’solutely not. Yer gettin’ ta shelter. Go back ta yer dad ‘n leave the ship ta us seadogs,” Murloch grumbled as he ignored her struggles.

However, before Murloch could carry out on his promise, a tidal wave that rose twenty feet tall crashed down upon the battered vessel and swamped the deck. The feraligatr dug in his claws deep into the wood of the ship, and he fought with all his strength against being washed away. Nora, though, had been yanked violently from his grasp by the powerful undertow and swept along with the foaming water to the edge of the ship. Desperately, she grabbed onto the railings with her vines and cried out in pain as she came to a sudden halt in midair, slamming into the side of the ship.

“NORA! HOLD ON!” she heard the Captain bellow.

There was a sharp crack as the distressed wood she clung to splintered from the extra weight it was forced to bear. Nora screamed as she plunged into the swirling sea below. The water was ice cold, and she sputtered as the vile salt water burned her eyes and throat. The waves tossed her around like a rag doll, constantly pulling her beneath the surface. She wildly paddled and gasped as she breached the surface for a few sweet seconds. Nora caught glimpse of some of the broken railing bobbing up and down in the surf, and she reached out half-blind with her vines before latching onto the driftwood. She pulled herself onto the make-shift life raft and wrapped her vines several times around the long beam of wood to anchor herself to it. 

Now she knew where the Siren’s Sorrow had gotten its name. The howling winds sounded like someone wailing in anguish and the torrential rain seemed like the sky itself was sobbing uncontrollably.

The driftwood helped Nora stay above water, but she was trapped in the middle of a hurricane that was dragging her further and further away from the ship. She thought she could just barely make out Captain Murloch calling out to her over the roar of the gales, just barely make out the shapes of several of the sailors diving into the angry ocean to swim after her. 

Her would-be rescuers could not reach her, battling against the tidal waves. She could do nothing but watch as the vortex reeled her in like a fish on a line until she could no longer see the ship.

Nora was firmly in the hold of the Siren’s Sorrow now.

The bulbasaur cried for somebody to save her. For her dad. For Captain Murloch. For anybody. Her only answer was several mouthfuls of salty brine. The sea grew choppier and the swell of the waves taller. Each crash as her plank was thrown about stung every nerve in her body. The sky was turning completely black...or was that her vision? It was too hard to think, to breathe. Her body was frozen and numb. With the last of her strength, Nora curled her vines an extra time around the broken beam to keep herself secured. 

She hardly even noticed when her world was consumed by the dark, unfeeling nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...that was a thing. What could be better than ending on a cliffhanger? Fair warning, I am guilty of doing that a lot. Hoped you liked or were at least intrigued by this first chapter! Main action will kick into gear in the next chapter with the introduction of our second main character. I have a lot already written, so hopefully I will be able to get these chapters up quickly.
> 
> Also, I got artwork of Nora you can check out here if you want --> https://www.deviantart.com/dusklugia/art/ToT-NPC-Nora-819838832


	2. Tears like Rain

The world was blurry and covered in an ethereal white fog. There was no sound except the faint pitter-patter of a gentle rain and the occasional breath of wind. A dim light shone from above, one that could be the sunlight trying to break through the wispy clouds or the Legends calling lost souls to the after-life. 

The first solid reassurance Nora had that she was not dead yet was pain. Her whole body ached dully and throbbed more intensely in certain spots like her left side...which she was currently laying on. Her limbs didn’t respond to the sluggish signals from her brain to shift in order to lessen the sting, so she just lay there in a daze, staring half-lidded up at the sky. She stayed this way for fifteen minutes, maybe more. Even the passage of time didn’t seem quite real in this place. 

Eventually, Nora found the strength and will to roll onto her stomach before staggering to her feet. Blinking owlishly at her unfamiliar surroundings, she tried to remember what had put her in such a sorry state. The last thing she could recall was...darkness... cold... screaming... 

All at once the memories came flooding back of that terrible storm, of struggling against what seemed at the time a certain death by drowning. But, after she had passed out, it was all blank. Try as she might, she could not figure out how she got here.

Wherever here was. 

Blinking a few times more to clear her vision, Nora realized she was on a beach of some sort, her feet sinking slightly into coarse, grey, waterlogged sand with each step. Crystal blue water rolled lazily onto the sand just a few feet away from her. Beyond the shore, the deeper waters of the ocean spread out as far as the eye could see with all too familiar black storm clouds and churning waves several miles out. Even if Nora had been a good swimmer, she wouldn’t have been able to get far before hitting the Siren’s Sorrow head on. 

The shiny bulbasaur turned away from the treacherous waters, back around towards the patch of dry land she now resided on. Although, “dry” might have not been wholly accurate. It was still raining steadily, but unlike the freezing downpour she had experienced before on the open sea, this was more like a summer rain, cool and refreshing. The winds were calm and gentle. Wispy banks of whitish mist hovered just above the ground, swirling and curling around her feet as she moved. All in all, this place had a strangely serene atmosphere.

_ Could this be that ‘eye’ Cap’n Murloch talked about?  _ Nora thought.  _ The sanctuary within the Siren’s Sorrow? How did I even get here before the storm dragged me under? Mom must be looking out for me from up there... _

The last thought brought a smile to the little bulbasaur’s face. Thinking of her mom brought along with it thoughts of her dad. Was he okay? Was the rest of the ship? He must be so worried about her...

The young grass type let out a long, melancholy sigh. If only she had listened to the Captain and gone back inside...she would probably still be with her dad now, maybe even back home in Tabira with him by now. Nora’s eyes started to burn at the corners, but she wouldn’t let herself start crying. It wouldn’t help her situation. 

With shaky legs, she started walking inland. There wasn’t much else she could think of to do but explore. Maybe she would find someone that could help her get back home.

The silver sand slowly gave way to wild, stringy blue-green grasses. The soggy ground squelched loudly with her every step, oversaturated by the constant rainfall. Generally, the landscape remained fairly flat with no notable features outside of the overgrown weeds. 

Rarely, Nora would find a tree, spindly brown with long sagging green leaves, standing amongst the grasses or beside a small pond.  _ Weeping willows _ , Nora recalled as she stopped to stand beneath one such tree. Her mom had told her all about weeping willows once when she was little. She closed her eyes as the memory washed over her. 

///

_ “Mom, Mom!” _

_  
__Linnea looked up from the tulips she was tending in her garden at the sound of her daughter’s distraught voice. She turned just in time for the tiny bulbasaur to jump into her arms, nearly knocking the shiny roserade off her feet. The five-year-old’s big pink eyes were pooling with tears and her face was the picture of fearful concern._

 _  
__“What is it, Nora? What’s wrong?” Linnea asked, a similar note of worry bleeding into her tone at the sight of Nora’s distress._

 _  
__“M-mom, I-I found this s-s-sick tree by the pond,” Nora sniffled, “I t-t-tried to perk it up, b-but nothing ha-happened!” A few tears slipped down Nora’s cheeks, and she tried to repress a small sob._

 _  
__“Shhh… No need for that, my darling,” Linnea soothed, brushing away the bulbasaur’s tears, “We grass types might be naturally inclined to controlling plants, helping them grow and flourish…but you’re still very young and your abilities are very…green.” That got a small snicker out of her daughter. “It’s okay if you can’t fix every struggling plant yet.”_

 _  
__“Can…can you help the tree?” Nora asked hesitantly, gazing up at her mom._

 _  
__“I might be able-” Linnea began haltingly before Nora wriggled out of her grip and wrapped one of her vines around the roserade’s wrist, yanking her forward urgently._

 _  
__“Come on!” she said before running off, towing her mom along._

 _  
__Nora came to a stop beside a thin but towering tree that was hunched over a pond. Its branches hung limp and its long, thin green leaves almost touched the ground._

 _  
__“See? It’s sick and wilting,” Nora said, pointing to the drooping tree, “Please help it!” However, when Nora turned back around, she was surprised to see her mom looking down at her with a kind smile._

 _  
__“Sweetheart, this is a weeping willow. It’s supposed to look like this,” Linnea explained, “In fact, this willow seems to be in a perfect state of health, probably from your help earlier.” Nora frowned in confusion._

 _  
__“But…that can’t be right. Why does it look so lifeless and sad then?”_

 _  
__“That’s just the way these trees are,” her mom replied._

 _  
__The little grass type gave a defeated sigh. “I just want it to be strong and bright like all the plants in the garden,” she mumbled. The roserade just shook her head wistfully before scooping up her daughter and hugging her tightly._

 _  
__“Oh, Nora… You have such a big heart, so full of love. It’s so sweet that you want to make everyone and everything around you feel better,” Linnea said fondly, “The truth is, though, that there are some hurts and sorrows out there that can’t be fixed – and there are those that don’t need to be.” Her mom gestured to the weeping willow, but Nora had the odd feeling that she meant something more than just the tree._

 _  
__Nora didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded and snuggled more into her mom’s embrace._

///

Nora hadn’t understood her mom’s words at the time...and frankly, she wasn’t sure if she did now.

Gazing up at the tree above her now, she felt that same pity she had as a child but also a bit of pleasant warmth from the memory of her mom, one she had not thought about since... 

Nora swallowed hard. She still could barely think the words without a pain growing in her chest. She turned away from the weeping willow and pushed back the grief that still lingered at the edge of her thoughts despite the years that had passed. She had to stay focused. She had to be brave. She had to keep going.

Nora walked for about an hour before the landscape changed again. It wasn’t quite as drastic a change as the beach, but she started seeing large outcrops of weather-worn off-white rocks peppered among the wildgrasses. Most of the stone was sunk deep beneath the ground, likely having been there for a very long time, yet all were easily over twice Nora’s height. 

“These almost look...like parts of buildings,” Nora muttered to herself as she examined a trio of tall cylindrical rocks, engravings too eroded to clearly make out carved into them, with crumbled chunks of a thinner, flatter rock scattered about. Could these be the ruins of some long lost village? Maybe a grand castle? The more Nora explored, the more questions she had.

Then, Nora heard a sound on the wind, something different than the soft but steady rhythm of the rain. It...sounded like someone crying. It was faint, distant, but the longer she listened, the more certain Nora was of what the sound was. She quickly followed in the direction of the noise, eager to find  _ anyone _ in this strange lonely place.

The little grass type was not kept waiting long before she laid eyes on the source of the sobs. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise. Slumped beside a small lake, a female gyarados sat crying desperately and uncontrollably. Her serpentine body shook with the force of her gasping sobs and her eyes were clenched shut as tears flowed like mini rivers down the sides of her face before dripping into the pond below. 

At first, Nora was cautious about getting closer to the gyarados, afraid she might be seen and the sea serpent might become enraged by her intrusion, but as she crept closer with her every step squelching loudly, it quickly became obvious that such caution wasn’t needed when the gyarados didn’t so much as flinch at the noise. Either the water type was completely oblivious to her surroundings or she simply didn’t care about anything outside of her own sorrow. 

Nora had only ever seen a gyarados up close once in her life, a muscled stoic brute who worked for the guilds along with a female litten. He had been kind to her, but his whole physique and serious disposition just spoke of power...and a warning not to be messed with. This gyarados before her now was the exact opposite. If Nora was honest, this gyarados was one of the most pitiful looking mons she’d ever seen. 

Though she still towered a good fifteen feet above the ground, this gyarados was unnaturally thin and sickly looking like she might collapse at any moment from merely holding up her own bodyweight. The white frills running along her back were ragged and limp, falling over her dull scales like long, stringy hair. Underneath the never-ending tears, her face was haggard with exhaustion, and there were dark circles under her eyes as though she had not slept in weeks.

The strangest thing, however, was the deep blue aura that hung around her body like an ethereal shroud. The sapphire energy pulsed with the gyarados’s every sob like a heartbeat, and with every pulse, the constant rainfall seemed to come down a tiny bit harder, a few degrees colder. The surface of the lake spread out before her thrashed and swelled with miniature tidal waves along with it. Nora shuddered as she was reminded of the stormy sea she had nearly drowned in. 

Everything about this bizarre mon was just...sad. Watching her cry ceaselessly, bent over in sorrow, was almost enough to bring tears to Nora’s eyes. She was reminded of the weeping willows, perpetually melancholy and drooping with no way of being uplifted. 

The shiny bulbasaur swallowed her tears, though, before walking right up to the somber sea serpent’s side with a resolute determination. She might not be able to cheer up a sad tree, but she could certainly help this gyarados.

“Why are you crying?” Nora asked. 

The gyarados did not even glance in her direction. 

“Hey! Uh...you! What’s wrong?” Nora tried again with a louder voice, poking the water type with one foot. 

The gyarados continued to sob. 

“Excuse me! Down here! HEY!” Nora practically shouted, trying to grab the miserable mon’s attention. She even headbutted the sea serpent’s side. All she got for her efforts was a slight headache as the gyarados’s scales were actually a  _ lot _ harder than they looked. Could she just not hear Nora from way up there? Was her crying drowning out all other sounds?

Nora sat back with a huff of defeat, out of ideas of what to do now. She couldn’t help this despairing dragon if she didn’t even know Nora was there! The rain which was coming down fairly hard by now soured Nora’s mood even more. For many moments, the little soggy bulbasaur just sat there staring at the raging mini ocean before her, thinking.

_ What would Dad do if I was this sad?  _ Nora thought _. ...what would Mom do? _

An idea came to her, and Nora started humming the lullaby her mom sang to soothe her whenever she was upset. Her humming slowly grew into actual lyrics as her confidence grew and her voice became stronger. The sweet melody floated through the air like a fragrant perfume, faint glowing celadon notes circling around Nora with every word. She hardly felt the rain as she became enveloped in the warmth of the song and the love her mom put into it every time she sang it.

A shiver ran down Nora’s spine as she got the prickling feeling she was being watched. Looking up, the grass type was met with a pair of intense royal blue eyes drilling into her, red and puffy around the edges yet hauntingly beautiful. Under that unblinking, wordless stare, the warm feeling within Nora began to freeze and she almost forgot to keep singing as the notes got stuck in her throat. The song only halted for a moment, though, as Nora took a deep breath and dove into the final verse of the lullaby, not breaking eye contact with the gyarados. The melancholy water type sagged lower and lower as Nora sang, her sad eyes blinking sluggishly before finally drifting shut as she fell to the ground with a gentle thud. As the last glimmering notes of Nora’s Grass Whistle faded into nothingness, the gyarados’s ragged breathing evened into that of a deep and peaceful sleep. 

Nora let out a contented sigh of relief as she lay flat in the grass, not even noticing that the rain had stopped or that the surface of the lake was now calm and smooth as glass.

***

Nora’s Grass Whistle affected mons in different ways. Most often, it only put those hearing it to sleep for ten or twenty minutes. Rarely, it could put a mon under for an hour or two (like her dad, for instance). So, Nora was patient at first as she waited for the mysterious gyarados she had found to wake up. Now that she had gotten the sea serpent to stop crying, Nora could hold a conversation with her and ask her a few of the questions bouncing around in her head like a spoink on a sugar rush. Of course,  _ until _ the gyarados awoke, there was little Nora could do.

So she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Ten minutes. Twenty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes. One hour and a half.

After three long silent hours, Nora was bored out of her mind. Time was passing at a slugma’s pace. It was so quiet without the sound of the rain or the slightest breeze. Even the gyarados’s breathing was soft and hardly dented the oppressive silence. It made the bulbasaur antsy. 

“I hope you wake up soon,” Nora said to her slumbering companion, “I’m not going to disturb you or anything. You really look like you need the rest. But, I really want to talk to you. I want to help you feel better.” 

The gyarados’s webbed ears didn’t even twitch. 

“Why were you crying like that?” Nora asked aloud, just to break the quiet that had started to cover them again like thick syrup. “That wasn’t the ‘I stubbed my toe’ kind of cry...though I guess you don’t have toes, so that wouldn’t make sense anyway,” she continued on, “It was from a deeper hurt, an inside hurt, I think. I...know what that looks like. M-My dad...”

Nora trailed off as moisture pricked at the corners of her eyes, remembering the  _ cause _ of the wound on her dad’s heart. After seeing so many tears today already, Nora was not eager to add in any of her own, so she switched topics.

“What even is this place? We’re in the Siren’s Sorrow...I think. Why are you here all alone?  _ Are _ you all alone?” she asked the empty air, “That would make me sad. Scared too. Do you get scared? Maybe not because you’re pretty big, even if you do look pretty unhealthy.”

The gyarados slumbered on, dead to the world. Nora let the silence wash in again before her eyes widened in a sudden realization.

“I don’t even know your name. I don’t really have anything to call you besides ‘you’... That will probably get old fast. I couldn’t even guess what your name is ‘cause I, uh, well...I don’t know anything about you,” Nora admitted. 

Nora was great at making friends, and she had felt a sort of bond with the gyarados just in the last several minutes of talking to her. But, saying it out loud really drove home that the sea serpent was a complete stranger to her. The gyarados might even be cruel and mean, like some kind of water witch. That fearful thought came and left, however, like a puff of steam. Even if she was, it wouldn’t make a difference to Nora. She chose to see the best in others first before getting hung up on the bad. She’d been called out as naive or innocent many times, but that was just the way she saw the world. Her mom always said it was a gift.

Nora was going to have to come up with something to call her dozing soon-to-be friend.  _ But what? All I know is that she’s really sad about something and was crying uncontrollably...and there was that blue aura...  _ Nora gave a small chuckle.  _ Emotionally and literally, she was completely- _

Nora’s eyes sparkled and a grin split her face as she came up with the perfect name. 

“I’m going to call you Blue, ok?” Nora took the gyarados’s silence as approval (granted, she would have taken any noise as approval as well) and leaned up against the massive water type’s side happily. “Whatever you’re like, Blue, I know we’ll be great friends. I’ll help you. It’s a promise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we've met the second main character of this story, the titular Siren "Blue". Sort of. She'll be more talkative next chapter. I'm so excited for the scenes to come with her and Nora. I really love writing their dynamic. I also got to introduce Nora's deceased mom, Linnea Roseblood. She'll be important later, especially in other stories (I got a whole connected universe planned). I'll try to get the other chapters posted quickly, but it all really depends on my motivation that day...so leave me a comment! Tell me what I did well, did bad, whatever. I'll take anything :D
> 
> I have artwork of Blue you can check out here if you want --> https://www.deviantart.com/dusklugia/art/ToT-NPC-Blue-819841533


	3. Little Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Title comes from the song "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men. I was listening to it a lot while writing this chapter...plus the female singer in the song reminds me of Blue

It wasn’t until the fourth day that Blue awoke. 

On the first day, Nora had stayed dutifully by the gyarados’s side, afraid to leave lest the sea serpent wake while she was away. Nora had long, mindless one-sided conversations with Blue to pass the time, talking about everything and anything that popped into her head.

By late morning of the second day, however, Nora was getting stiff from sitting in one position for so long. She decided to stretch her legs, just for a bit, and look for some kind of solid food. Like many grass types, Nora could gather energy from the sun through the bulb on her back, and thanks to this trait, she always felt charged up when outdoors. The sky had cleared somewhat since Blue had fallen asleep, but the dim sunlight was still not strong enough to sustain the little bulbasaur on its own. 

Nora never wandered too far from the lake and made sure she could still see Blue in the distance (not a hard task given how large the water type was) as she conducted her scavenger hunt. She managed to find a few water-logged berry bushes and some (hopefully) edible herbs with thick & juicy leaves. It was a decent and filling meal, but it lacked the warmth and love of her dad’s cooking. 

Nora tried not to think of her dad if she could help it, of how much he must miss her, of how much  _ she _ missed him and all the comforts of home. As optimistic as she always tried to be, Nora subconsciously understood that her current situation was bleak. She was stuck here until someone came to find her...which was a vain hope at best, considering there was the Siren’s Sorrow to contend with outside this little sanctuary. The young grass type voiced her fears and worries to Blue in the evenings in a soft voice, feeling more vulnerable and far less sunny in the darkness. Even if the gyarados didn’t reply, hearing her gentle breathing was comforting, a reassurance that Nora wasn’t as alone as she might feel inside. 

In the two days that followed, Nora kept to the same rudimentary schedule of exploring the surrounding lands, finding something edible, and chatting with Blue to fill the too pristine silence. She had even found a large leaf on one of her trips to prop up like an umbrella to ward off the bouts of heavier rainfall. Outside of the odd discovery of a new plant or bizarre rock formation, it was an incredibly dull routine. Nora was beginning to wonder if something had gone wrong with her Grass Whistle for Blue to be sleeping so long and so soundly. Her dad had slept a full day once when she had kept him awake all night long for a midnight stargazing party, but never anything like this. She’d never heard of any mon short of a snorlax or abra needing this much rest. Sure, the gyarados had looked horribly weary...but to sleep for  _ four straight days _ ? How much longer was Nora supposed to wait?

“I hate to admit it...but I’m starting to run dry here, Blue,” Nora muttered, sitting by the edge of the lake and dully staring across its crystal surface. “I’ve boasted to my friends that I can talk for hours...but I never thought I would have to do that literally some day!” 

The silence stretched on.

“I know I said I wouldn’t wake you...I won’t...” Nora let out a small, frustrated sigh, “But can you  _ please _ hurry up and wake up soon? I really want to meet you, for real, y’know? I’m tired of hearing my voice alone, and I have so many questions for you! Please...for me, Blue?” The bulbasaur’s pleading fell on deaf ears.

She thought.

It sounded like a low growl...before forming into a word, battered and scratchy. 

“... _ Blue _ ?” 

A hoarse, broken whisper, almost inaudible even in the complete quiet. 

Nora jumped nonetheless at the sound, nearly falling into the pond, before twisting around towards the only possible source. A pair of half-lidded royal blue eyes stared back at her, sharp and piercing despite still being clouded with fatigue.

“Oh my gosh...you’re finally awake!” Nora gaped, “You slept for so,  _ so _ long!”

The gyarados did not so much as blink, her eyes narrowing a fraction as she continued to stare at the bulbasaur expectantly. It took a few tense beats of silence for Nora to realize that Blue was waiting for an answer.

“Oh! Blue is...uh...what I’ve been calling...you...since, uh, you...never said anything before, you...um, fell asleep,” Nora explained slowly, sheepishly shifting in place as a slight blush appeared on her face.

“ _ Why? _ ” Her tone was dry but not irritated or offended. Nora hoped so at least. 

“Well, y’know...cuz you were crying so much. Aren’t gyarados supposed to be all angry all the time?” Nora answered honestly with a weak laugh. Blue rose one brow slightly.

“Aren’t bulbasaur  _ supposed _ to be blue?” she retorted sharply.

Nora opened her mouth to reply before closing it again.  _ She’s got me there _ , the shiny bulbasaur admitted silently. Now, instead of friendly, she sounded judgemental.  _ This is awkward... _

“I’m Nora!” she soldiered on with a friendly smile, determined to make a good impression despite a rocky start, “I won’t call you Blue if you don’t like it. What’s your name?”

The massive water type held Nora’s gaze for several moments more before shifting her head slightly to stare instead at the calm surface of the lake. Her eyelids drooped further shut, though did not close fully, and a distressed frown completed her gloomy expression. After several moments, Nora began to fear that Blue might not have understood her question because of how fast she spoke or perhaps the gyarados couldn’t speak more than a handful of words at a time.

Again, the sea serpent surprised Nora.

“That name and the person I once was lived with my beloved,” came the soft, drawling whisper, “It matters little how I am addressed now. You may call me Blue, if it pleases you.”

Blue’s voice was rough from clear lack of use (for who knows how long), but Nora was shocked at how articulate and formal she was. Perhaps because Blue was living all alone in this haunting, soggy place like some old sea hag, the bulbasaur figured her manners would match.  _ Maybe talking won’t be so hard after all, _ Nora thought hopefully. She had a hundred questions ready to gush out from her like a bubbling spring, causing a pileup in her thoughts and making it hard to settle on what topic to start on. So long had she waited for this encounter, yet now all her queries were stuck on the tip of her tongue. 

“Well...who’s your beloved? Are they here on this island too? Can I meet them?” Nora asked innocently, deciding something Blue had spoken of was the best middle ground to start on. 

This assumption could have not been more  _ wrong _ .

Blue lifted her head several feet off the ground to regard Nora with an icy, pained glare. Nora gave a small squeak of surprise, taking a step back (in surprise or fear, she wasn’t sure), but Blue lost interest in her just as quickly and turned her gaze skywards. Her eyes grew distant before pooling with tears. A low rumble echoed across the land and the sky darkened as her tears started escaping down her cheeks in thin streams. Blue bit off a sob, unsuccessfully, and Nora felt the first raindrops splash down on her face.

“ **_She’s dead_ ** **,** ” Blue gasped, eyes clenched shut and face twisted in despair as the rain started falling steadily. Nora’s heart twisted just as painfully at the gyarados’s sudden mood swing. She hadn’t meant for their first chat to go like this! 

Nora jumped up and latched onto the tip of Blue’s nose, trying to grab her attention before she got too upset and that blue aura appeared.

“I-I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry! Please don’t cry!” Nora sputtered, trying to both apologize and soothe at the same time. The gyarados continued to sob, but she had opened her eyes to look at Nora. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. Just...please don’t cry. I don’t like seeing anyone so sad,” the little bulbasaur continued, “I promise...I just wanted to help...” 

Blue lowered her head to the ground so Nora wasn’t dangling in the air, but Nora didn’t slide off just yet. Blue was trembling still and tears still ran in rivers across her face, but she made an effort to hold back her sobs in order to speak. “W-What...makes you think...I-I can be helped?” she slurred brokenly, a hint of spite coloring her mournful tone. 

Nora hugged the gyarados tighter in response. “I want to help,” she repeated, “Please...let me try.” 

Blue sighed, her whole body seeming to deflate with the action. Her eyes shut again as she continued to cry, but it was softer, more restrained now. The rain poured down. With some effort, Nora pulled herself all the way up to stand on the gyarados’s muzzle. Delicately treading across her scales (even if Nora suspected she couldn’t hurt Blue if she tried), the small grass type sat by the navy blue crest on Blue’s forehead, near her ears. Slowly Nora started singing. It wasn’t her Grass Whistle, just a little song she knew. Music had helped calm Blue before, so maybe it could now.

Nora could feel the gyarados stiffen initially before relaxing a bit. Blue’s crying did not cease, but the rain never got heavier and her shaking stopped. It was as positive a response as Nora could expect. Nora kept singing until Blue’s tears dried and a familiar silence returned like an old friend. The shiny bulbasaur tentatively called out to the sea serpent but received no reply. Nora suspected Blue had either fallen asleep or simply didn’t want to talk. The young grass type sighed.

This was going to be a  _ lot _ harder than she thought.

***

After the first...incident, Nora was far more wary of what she asked Blue. Any queries regarding something too personal about herself Blue either avoided or broke down over. Blue was quite openly emotional, despite her secret-keeping, and it was almost like she had no control over her turbulent feelings most of the time, often fighting against the tears that inevitably always won out. Once Blue got upset, Nora had to find some way to soothe her, usually by singing, before it started pouring...because once the rains fell, Blue became practically comatose in her own sorrow and would not react until she settled herself down or Nora forced her asleep and waited until she awoke. The latter was the more common outcome, regrettably.

On the brighter side, Nora had at least made an arrangement of sorts with Blue that the gyarados sleep no longer than a day at a time. The young grass type complained that she got lonely, and the sea serpent’s countenance washed over with sympathy and worry instantly. Blue made an oath on the spot to not subject Nora to such a trial ever again. Nora in turn made a promise, to herself, to not leave Blue alone either...not that she really had the option at the present.

Blue was...strange in many ways. As they interacted more, Nora experienced first hand that Blue was not typical for her species in more than just appearances. Blue was like the ocean. She was...gentle and passive, lethargic even and unwilling to react to most anything. Yet, she also had all these stormy emotions just swirling beneath that calm surface, ready to snap and drown all in the resulting tempest at any given moment. It was sad...yet terrifying to deal with on a day to day basis. 

In spite of it all, Nora refused to give up. Day after day, she kept trying to get Blue to open up, to help her feel better. She saw the scars clear as day on the melancholy dragon’s heart. Blue was like a pane of glass with cracks spidering throughout. If Nora pushed too hard on any one of those distressed shards, Blue might shatter utterly with no hope of repair. Nora would not lose hope, however. Blue wasn’t like the weeping willows. Nora  _ could _ heal her. 

“Do you think it’ll rain today?” Nora asked as she sat beside the gyarados one morning, staring up at the thick grey clouds filling the sky. She found that asking neutral questions with easy yes or no answers was the best way of coaxing Blue into talking. 

Blue had been hunched over the lake as she usually was, lost in thought, but she turned her head at Nora’s question. “Would you like it to, my flower?” she asked back, regarding the bulbasaur with a curious glint in her somber eyes. Blue’s voice had cleared up significantly as Nora pushed her to use it more. It was smoother, sweeter but she still never spoke in more than a halting whisper.

“No, thank you,” Nora said with a shake of her head, “I mean I love the rain, but I think it rains too much around here. I’m hoping it stays clear all day.” Nora cast a glance up at the gyarados, wondering if she had caught the hidden meaning of Nora’s words.

Blue said nothing and had turned back to the lake. 

“Are you the Siren?” Nora tried a different approach, not willing to let the conversation drop so quickly.

That recaptured Blue’s attention as she gave Nora a confused look.

“Of the Siren’s Sorrow! Is the Siren you?” Nora elaborated. There was not a hint of recognition on the gyarados’s face. “The big storm we’re in the center of! Cap’n Murlock calls it The Siren’s Sorrow and says it’s been going on forever. You’re in the storm...and pretty sad, sooo...maybe they named it after you?”

Blue’s slight bemusement faded as her eyes narrowed in disinterest.

“Oh...is that what  _ they _ call it? Such a superfluous name,” she muttered, “I’ve always found it so curious how common folk become _ so _ fascinated with natural phenomena, praising it as some sort of supernatural miracle merely because it exists longer than their short lifespans.”

Nora tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. “You don’t think it’s weird that there’s a storm that’s been around forever?” Blue huffed in response.

“A mere 500 years is not forever,” she stated. Nora’s eyes widened.

“Wait...you know when the Siren’s Sorrow started?” she gasped. Blue inclined her head serenely.

“Of course. I lived here long before that storm was born, and I will be here long after it dies...unless some merciful or malicious soul ends this hollow cycle of pain and anguish I am trapped in.” Nora shuddered at Blue’s frigid, black tone. 

Choosing to ignore Blue’s darker implications, Nora voiced another question, “So if you were here before the Siren’s Sorrow....and the Siren’s Sorrow is 500 years old...then...how old are  _ you _ , Blue?”

“3,612 years old,” Blue said casually. She tossed her head slightly to the side, a gesture Nora had learned was the closest thing the gyarados could do to a shrug without shoulders. “Give or take a decade.”

Nora’s jaw dropped and stars sparkled in her large pink eyes. “F-For real?” she asked, flabbergasted.

Blue nodded, looking somewhat offended that the bulbasaur would insinuate any dishonesty on her part. “Of course. I would not lie to you, my flower...and it’s not polite to gape like that.”

Nora blushed faintly and snapped her jaw shut. “How’s that possible? The oldest mon I’ve ever met is Lady Sela who’s a crustle. She’s, like, 500 years old and she  _ looks _ super old,” she said, still a bit stunned, “I can’t imagine thousands of years...and you don’t look old at all!” Nora had read once that witches could use magic to live longer...but there was  _ no way _ Blue could be a witch. She was too kind to doing anything so mean as magic. 

Blue’s mouth quirked up a tiny bit at the corners, the closest she had gotten to a smile since Nora had met her, and her royal blue eyes glowed warmly. “I’m flattered you think as much, dear, but a lengthy lifespan is hardly something to get excited over. All dragons are known to live for several millennia, even  _ false _ dragons like myself,” she hissed the term with deep venom. Nora didn’t interrupt her to ask why, filing the query away for another day. “There are even species of other types known for long lifespans such as ninetales and arcanine. Truly, there’s nothing special about living 1,000 years over 100,” her eyes darkened and her countenance grew bleak, “It’s a curse, not a blessing to exist so long...to watch as all those you love leave you alone...alone with only the ghosts of the past and holes in your heart that will never be filled...”

Nora didn’t need to look up to know that Blue was crying again as the heavy grey clouds finally released their reservoirs in a steady drizzle. She could practically feel the dark depressed haze weighing over the gyarados, heavy and stifling. Nora pressed herself into Blue’s side to offer what little physical support and comfort she could.

“You can’t think like that, Blue... It only hurts you,” Nora said gently after letting her cry in silence for several minutes, “You are not alone. Not now. Not anymore.”

Blue said nothing, and Nora wasn’t surprised. She figured she wouldn’t be getting anything else out of her friend today. 

“W-will you...s-sing for m-me, dar-ling?” Blue asked, meek and sniffling.

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you finally get to really meet Blue in this chapter and see how she gets along with Nora. Nora, sweet child, just wants to help the gyarados not be so sad...but she SERIOUSLY has her work cut out for her. 
> 
> Also, is having sort of timeskips between scenes jarring at all? It felt like the more natural way to pass time than covering every single day. At this point in the story, Nora's been on the island for about a week, hence being a bit more familiar with Blue at this point but not much.


	4. Uncharted Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry for forgetting about this story! Life happened and updating this was pushed to the very deepest recesses of my mind. I was casually asked about it by a friend...and realized I haven't updated in months! My apologies. I'll try to do better. The goal is to get the rest of the chapters posted today, but at the very least, here's one more for the pile.

Blue was sick. She _had_ to be. The last few days the gyarados had been abnormally sluggish...which was saying something. Even with Nora helping her sleep with her Grass Whistle, Blue seemed to barely have any energy. Lying by the edge of the small lake, her eyes barely open in a thousand yard stare, Blue looked so _weak_ . Nora was almost making _herself_ sick with worry over her friend’s evident suffering. Yet, she couldn’t discern the cause and therefore she was stumped on what a suitable cure would be.

Nora finally decided to take action. She rose early before the sun (or at least she believed so, considering any sight of the sun was a rarity in this place) and left Blue sleeping by the lake to go looking for medicinal herbs. Even if Nora didn’t know what illness was ailing Blue, she was sure she could whip together something to help the gyarados. She wasn’t a doctor, but her mom had taught her which plants could heal certain ailments. For the better part of an hour, Nora collected different grasses and roots, bundling them up in an oversized leaf to carry. Once she was certain she had enough, she headed back to the lake. She hoped Blue would be feeling better today.

However, when Nora returned, Blue was nowhere to be seen. Once she got over the initial shock and slight awe that some mon as big as Blue could disappear so easily in a place that was mostly featureless plains, Nora frantically searched for the gyarados. She quickly ruled out that Blue might be in the lake as she would have no doubt displaced a lot of water if she had dove in. Nora wandered around the empty sanctuary, calling Blue’s name at the top of her lungs. Her cries were only met with silence. 

Nora had no ultimate destination in mind as she searched, yet somehow she ended up at the grey beach she had first washed up on almost two weeks ago. As she walked along the ocean’s edge, she gasped as she caught sight of a familiar sapphire form. 

“Blue! Blue, I been looking every-!” Nora called out in relief as she ran towards the gyarados before coming to a sudden halt as the sky darkened ominously. Blue was lying near lifeless upon the sand, staring intently at the rolling waves. With visible effort, she rose up to about half her height and a brillant blue aura enveloped her body. Clouds rumbled overhead and the waves grew larger, choppier. Blue flicked her tailfin back and forth, the blue aura pulsing and the waves swelling ever higher. With a deft slice of her tail, the monstrous tidal wave crashed upon the shore beside her with a gushing roar. When the water receded, Nora could see that a wriggling, silver pile had been left behind.

The shiny bulbasaur’s gut twisted. _They’re remoraid...hundreds of them_ , she realized. The sapphire aura around Blue dissipated as she approached the hoard of fish. She only hesitated a second before digging into the pile with a ravenous appetite, swallowing dozens of the silvery fish whole at a time.

“B-Blue..?” Nora squeaked, suddenly feeling a bit queasy. It was an honest surprise when the gyarados froze before twisting to gaze down at the little grass type. Nora was certain she wouldn’t be heard over the sound of the sea serpent’s chewing. Blue swallowed her current mouthful politely before speaking.

“There you are, my flower. Is something amiss? You look pale...” she asked, her soft voice thick with concern. Nora’s eyes flickered to the fish mound before swallowing thickly herself.

“I...I didn’t know where you went...” she said shakily, “I was...worried.” Royal blue eyes softened as Blue curled her tail around Nora, gently pulling her in closer in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. It might have been if it hadn’t brought Nora that much closer to the pile of desperately flailing fish.

“It was not my intent to distress you so. Please forgive me,” Blue apologized, not quite convinced by Nora’s answer but apparently not suspicious enough to question her further, “I...I tried to ignore...stave it off, but...the primal instinct to survive always wins out over personal choice it seems,” she murmured with a humorless chuckle as she gazed out at the ocean, “I-I barely had the strength to drag myself to the sea this time, much less command the waves. The effort almost was too much... It would be so much _easier_ to finally waste away...but I _did_ make a promise to never leave you alone, my darling. I will not break another promise.” 

A low grumbling echoed across the silent beach. At first, Nora thought the noise had come from the dark clouds, but when it sounded a second time, she realized it was coming from the gyarados beside her, from her stomach. The rumbling settled as Blue resumed gorging herself. 

“Wait, these last few days...you were just hungry? I thought you were sick! I was all worried that you needed medicine...or something...and- How long has it been since you ate?” Nora gasped in complete disbelief. Blue once again waited until her mouth wasn’t full before answering.

“Several months, minimum. My strength used to hold out for at least a year...but with the gift of your unexpected arrival, I am...more active, using up more energy than I normally expend.” Nora’s eyes grew wide, her heart breaking at hearing Blue talk about _starving_ herself so casually. 

“M-Months?! Were you trying to starve yourself?!” Nora paused, realizing what the obvious answer was that Blue would give (and one Nora didn’t want to hear), before going on, “That’s... _why_ would you do that, Blue? It’s not healthy! No wonder you look so ragged...” Blue halted once more in her meal to give Nora a chilling glance. 

“After I... _after_ _her_ , everything else lost meaning. The world I once knew, so full of warmth and color, grew cold and grey,” Blue spoke, sounding every bit her age, “What did I care what I looked like? If I ate? If I slept? Nothing seemed important anymore...and perhaps...” her voice grew so quiet Nora had to strain to hear, like it was a secret she feared voicing aloud, “I _deserve_ to suffer like this for all I’ve done, for my continued existence in spite of it all.”

Nora was at a loss of what to say to _that_ . Any consolation would have rung hollow in the air. What had happened to Blue to make her this way? _Why won’t she just tell me?_ Nora thought bitterly. _I can hardly help if I don’t know what’s wrong._

“...That’s horrible,” the little grass type said bluntly at length. Blue had already returned to her meal and likely had not heard her at all.

Nora remained seated by the gyarados’s side, not that she had much choice with the water type’s tail corralling her in. She very pointedly kept her eyes on the sky, trying to ignore the snaps and crunches of tiny bones and scales being devoured at an alarming speed. It was the only sound to fill the silence outside the leisurely lapping of the tide. 

“They are non-sentient.” Blue’s voice broke Nora’s concentration, enticing her to drag her gaze away from the clouds to give the gyarados a puzzled stare.

“W-What?”

“These remoraid...they’re non-sentient, if it bothers you. A subspecies bred thousands of years ago specifically for the purpose of food. Left alone, they only swim in mindless circles in this patch of ocean...and their lifespans are exceedingly short besides.”

“...oh.” Nora wasn’t sure what else to say to Blue’s explanation. She should have felt better - Blue had likely shared the information to make her feel better - but Nora’s stomach continued to tumble when she glanced at the pile of (not) remoraid. Was being raised as mindless from hatching any better than killing sentient mons for food?

“I am well aware of what it means to prey on intelligent pokemon. You thought me a cannibal,” Blue stated nonchalantly. Nora gasped in shock and opened her mouth to fiercely deny any such assumptions, but Blue didn’t give her a chance to speak. “It’s alright. It’s hardly the worst thing I’ve been called in my life. Frankly, such a title wouldn’t even make the top ten. You believed I would eat you once enough time had passed?” Even if phrased as a question, the sea serpent’s tone made clear it was a statement, a fact. 

“No! Never!” the bulbasaur sputtered vehemently once she was given a chance to talk. Blue wore a bemused expression.

“There’s no need for lies. I’m not offended, my darling. It is only natural to hold such expectations of a predatory species.”

“I’m not lying!” Nora insisted, her voice rising in frustration, “I would never think you’re some kind of monster, Blue!” The gyarados shook her head and clicked her tongue, like a mother dealing with a stubborn child.

“Such a sweet and thoughtful dear you are,” she sighed lovingly, “I know what I am. You know what I am...yet you hold onto such innocent fallacies. By nature of my species, I am a monster, and I accept I will be treated as such. There’s nothing to get worked up over.”

Nora rose to her feet, stamping one foot childishly on the ground in the beginnings of a tantrum. “YES. IT. IS!” she shouted, “I’d never judge any mon because of their species. No one should! You’re not a monster, Blue! It’s...It’s so-so wrong that you’d think that way - think that’s _okay_ !” Nora started stuttering as her anger caused her mind to work faster than her mouth. She hated to rant, but how else was she to get this _very simple_ point across to the gyarados? “Ever since we met, you’ve been so kind and gentle. Yeah, you might cry a lot and are really sad a lot of the time...but some _monster_ wouldn’t show any of those things!”

Blue just stared at the irate bulbasaur as she panted from her outburst. The water type’s bemused expression was gone and now her face was neutral and unreadable. 

“You expect me to believe you are not afraid of me?” she whispered, her voice brittle and delicate like thin ice on the surface of a pond, “I saw the fear in your eyes, my flower, when you first sang to me. I scare you, no matter how much you might hide it.”

Nora gave a fierce shake of the head. “I’m not scared of you, Blue. I never will be,” she replied adamantly. Her rose-colored eyes burned with defiance. 

The stare off of ice and fire was held between the two for what felt like hours. Blue was the first to back down, turning away with a thoughtful hum. She slithered back inland, no doubt heading back to her usual spot by the small lake. What remained of her meal was left scattered on the beach, forgotten. 

Nora briefly considered following after the water type but ultimately sat back down on the soggy silver sand. Blue would no doubt fall asleep after consuming so much food...and even if she didn’t, Nora knew the gyarados had no interest in continuing their conversation and would likely be giving her the silent treatment. Again.

So instead, Nora watched the crystal waves roll in and out until the sun went down, her mind adrift as always with thoughts of her friend who grew more broken every day. 

***

After that day, Nora took it upon herself to start monitoring Blue’s habits more closely. She tried to get Blue in the routine of eating more regularly, sleeping more regularly, _taking care_ _of herself_ more regularly. The shiny bulbasaur received quite a mixed bag of results. Sleep was easy enough for her to regulate as she could force Blue unconscious with her Grass Whistle when necessary. The gyarados didn’t mind Nora’s attempts at establishing a sleep schedule; she often used sleep as an escape when her stormy emotions flew beyond her control.

Establishing a regular eating schedule was a whole other monster. Unlike sleeping, it was an activity Nora had no means of forcing Blue to do. Blue, for all her softer personality traits, could be infuriatingly stubborn once she decided she didn’t want to do something. She clearly hated anyone ordering her to do anything...even if it was something she might do without complaint in any other circumstance. The best Nora was able to do was get Blue to eat at least once a week, _maybe_ twice...and that had taken a LOT of lillipup eyes and even the threat of tears if the gyarados wouldn’t give in to Nora’s demands. Nora was thankful at the time that Blue literally couldn’t stand to see her unhappy in any way and would indulge her requests to get her smiling again...but it was no permanent solution to the problem. Nora felt wrong manipulating her friend’s emotions like that. What good would it do if Blue only ever did things because Nora begged her to, not because she herself should want to in order to feel better?

That brought Nora back to the crux of her problems: still not knowing _why_ Blue was in such a self-destructive spiral. That day at the beach and the ones following their argument (was that really what it was?) made it painfully clear to the little grass type that she had to change her tactics. She had tried to be gentle, patient, and understanding this whole time...but that wasn’t helping Blue, not really. No, she would have to be direct and ask Blue upfront what was making her so sad. If Nora could only find out the true reason the sea serpent was hurting, she could heal her! 

Despite her new found strategy of being tough and direct, Nora knew she still needed to approach this much needed conversation delicately. She had asked Blue to come exploring the sanctuary with her for the day. Besides hoping the change of scenery would get Blue out of her head for a bit, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to play it safe and keep the gyarados far from any open bodies of water in case their chat went south. 

“Hey, Blue, you’ve been around for, like, forever right?” Nora asked innocently as they walked together across the damp grassy plains.

“Something like that,” Blue nodded, a gentle smile in her voice even if none graced her solemn features. 

“What are these rock things then?” the grass type asked excitedly as she ran up to one of the weathered grey monoliths sunk deep in the earth, “They look like super old ruins or something.”

Blue slowly circled the stones, sapphire eyes narrowed in sharp analysis. While the stones towered over the little bulbasaur, they only reached to about half her height. Nora retained her adorable, curious smile as she watched. She knew she had to lure Blue into talking with an innocent and unassuming question first then wait until Blue became less guarded before she could spring her true question, one which would without a doubt make Blue shut down otherwise. 

“You are quite perceptive, my dear. These are indeed ruins. These in particular are what remains of the third kitchen of the House of Dione,” Blue said, gesturing at the crumbling remnants. Now that she looked harder, Nora could see a darker smudging on the side of one of the upright rocks, like soot that had built up. Perhaps a large oven or stove once stood here?

Nora’s pink eyes sparkled like stars. “A _third_ kitchen?” Blue nodded, her eyes warm.

“If my memory serves,” she said with a little chuckle, “The Diones were like royalty. They held great power over this land and thereby held many things as well, including multiple kitchens. It was a show of their wealth, like many of their elaborate buildings,” Blue laughed again but there was something almost...snide about the sound, “If only they could see what remains of their grandeur now, what a sorry state their legacy lies in...”

“So...other mons used to live here besides you?” Nora asked, sensing a need to change tracks. 

“Yes, a very _very_ long time ago,” Blue replied in a wispy tone, her expression nostalgic, “This land was once a great kingdom called Naotk. One of the first empires, long before pokemon truly began to spread and develop into anything of what they resemble now. This was a kingdom ruled by strength, and a great many lived here.” 

Blue paused a moment, tears collecting along the rims of her eyes, but to Nora’s surprise, she did not let them fall and picked up conversation again with a more brisk pace.

“There was never lasting peace or equality, but there was order and vitality. There was enough to be content with your lot in life...or there was struggle but the promise of greatness for those who wished to break from the class designated by their species or their birth and climb higher. Most failed but failed just as happy as those that did not try, purely by knowing _they_ had tried their hardest to be different. And...at the very top were the noble houses, the mightiest of which was the House of Dione...the pureblood dragons.”

Nora watched Blue with befuddled concern. The gyarados’s tone when she recounted all this history, especially the Diones, was resentful, disgruntled...yet proud. Based on her expression which wavered somewhere between peaceful and on the verge of a breakdown, Blue didn’t know quite how she felt about her story any more than Nora did. 

“What happened to Naotk? To the House of Dione?” Nora asked after Blue had gone quiet for a bit too long. Normally, the bulbasaur would steer away from such a question that might upset Blue, but today she was determined to start getting solid answers. 

The gyarados didn’t reply at first, still as a statue with a blank stare. Then her whole posture curled in on itself as she slumped lower to the ground. “The kingdom...was destroyed by a wild, untamed creature centuries ago,” she rasped in a broken whisper, “It razed Naotk and its people in hellfire...with few fool enough to fight the monster and even fewer lucky enough to escape the destruction.”

The skies grew darker along with Blue’s voice. She swallowed audibly as the first tear rolled down her cheek, yet still she defiantly held back the flood in order to speak. “When there was naught but ashes, the heavens cried. The rains washed over and flooded the shattered kingdom, never able to truly wash away all the black...all the death. The storm - The Siren’s Sorrow, as you called it, my darling - grew and grew until it blanketed the entire kingdom. It swamped the land before drowning it entirely beneath the waves, cleansing it from the memory of the rest of the world. Only a small sanctuary lingers as reminder of the kingdom...like a scar...like a stain...l-like-”

Blue couldn’t continue as she finally lost her composure with an anguished gasp, the dams breaking as tears poured from her eyes like waterfalls. Ashy clouds boomed in harmony to her sobs as a heavy downpour started to fall. 

Nora stood silently staring up at Blue, forgotten by the gyarados in the throes of her sorrow. Nora’s large eyes were filled with pain and water, some tears and some rain splashing onto her. She sighed, long and deep, in resignation before clearing her throat. This wasn’t where she had wanted her talk with Blue to go, but she wasn’t going to back down this time. She knew there had to be more to Blue’s sorrow, some key piece that wasn’t present in all the sad stories she told. There was something else the gyarados kept hidden away, festering like an infected wound. Nora needed to find it, to treat it, so Blue could move on and heal. 

“Uh, Blue?” Nora called out over the rain. 

The gyarados didn’t react, unsurprisingly. 

“BLUE!” Nora shouted. 

That at least got the sea serpent’s clenched shut eyes to open a sliver. Seeing she had Blue’s attention (somewhat), Nora continued on with a sympathetic yet (hopefully) commanding tone.

“Listen, I know you’re sad. You’re sad a lot, but all this crying isn’t helping you! It’s...It’s just hurting everything else around you as much as you’re hurting!” the bulbasaur said, “I really WANT to help you heal, but you have to tell me how. I’m running in circles trying to find out what's wrong and...and it’s frustrating never making any true progress!” Nora couldn’t entirely hide a small growl in her voice, but she had gone too far now to back down or apologize.

“I know whatever it is, the true source of your pain, it’s killing you! All these stories you tell me...aren’t really telling anything. They’re sad, yeah, but you never say how _you_ play into them... you never admit what made you hurt...” Nora took a steadying breath before dropping all pretenses and shouting out the questions she had thought about all night and promised to ask no matter what, “Why are _you_ sad? Why do _you_ cry? Why...why, even though you say you care about me... _why_ won’t you trust me enough to tell me _really_ what’s wrong?”

Nora was out of breath once she finished her speech, yet what little air that was left in her lungs froze as Blue leaned down to look her right in the face. The temperature seemed to plummet, and Nora couldn’t help but shiver as she held Blue’s gaze. The gyarados’s royal blue eyes were cold and hard as gemstones, pain and despair in a crystallized form. When she spoke, Nora could feel her cool breath on her face.

“Why...am I sad? You think...you think my sorrow can be watered down to _one_ cause? My tears have only _one_ source?” she hissed, her voice pure ice, “What do you know, _child_ ? You who have walked this earth for barely a decade and a half...what could _you_ understand of my pain? Pain which has ravaged me for centuries!” 

Blue’s broken whisper slowly built in volume, like the pressure of a geyser ready to erupt. The frills running along her back glowed with a silver light, rippling in the air like wisps of white fire. Nora took a half step back as the winds began to howl, her heart freezing over with fear, but her body wouldn’t respond past that to her mind’s orders to run. 

“B-Blue, wait- I didn’t mean-” 

“I am _sad_ because my home lies dead and in ruins. I am _sad_ because I am a violent monster who can’t even control her own emotions. I am _sad_ because I was abandoned by those I loved, those I _trusted_ . I am _sad_ because my beloved was cruelly ripped away from me, from this life long before her time. I am _sad_ because I have spent the last 500 years utterly alone, devoid of any care or comfort when...w-when I need it... _desperately_ ,” Blue was practically wailing now through her tears over the roar of the wind and rain. 

Nora clung to the grass for dear life as silvery freezing gales slashed at her, threatening to blow her away. A swirling mass of grey wind and mist had formed around the two of them, trapping them in a miniature hurricane. The wind blew harder and the rain came down heavier with every moment, dredging to the surface the dreadful memory of when she had fallen overboard and become trapped in the Siren’s Sorrow. 

“Blue, pl-please- the storm! I-I can’t-” Nora bit out, barely able to keep her eyes open within the maelstrom.

“I...I am sad...because I don’t know what else there is anymore! I-I’ve forgotten what it is to feel anything else but this...this _grief_ . I don’t know _why_ I’m sad sometimes..and that pain...that emptiness is all there is,” Blue moaned, clenching her eyes shut against the tears. 

The storm swelled, snarling and clawing at the little grass type who was certain Blue had forgotten her entirely in her despair. Nora had never been so afraid, so alone. She screamed out in desperate terror, covering her face with her arms.

“BLUE, PLEASE...STOP! YOU’RE SCARING ME!”

At the sound of her cry, the world froze. The winds were silenced. The raindrops hung suspended in mid-air. Slowly, Nora pulled her arms away from her face. Trembling, she looked up in confusion and awe at the frozen maelstrom. Then her eyes landed on the source of it all. 

“Blue...” she whispered, hoarsely.

The gyarados was paralyzed, frozen save for the tears that still dripped from her face only to hang in the air. Her face was twisted with guilt and remorse. Her dark blue eyes were bottomless pools of despair, reflecting back the same fear and sorrow that shone in Nora’s rosy orbs. A statue of glass, riddled with fractures and cracks to her very core.

Nora reached out hesitantly and the frozen world shattered. Nora feared Blue shattered along with it. The water droplets instantly all resumed their journey downwards in one collective splash. The gyarados bit off a sob or a gasp or perhaps it was a breathless “I’m sorry” before she turned tail and fled as quickly as possible from the little bulbasaur, _her darling flower_ , who she had nearly destroyed. 

Nora collapsed to the ground in defeat. The rain was only a slight drizzle now and the wind had died completely, yet Nora still shook like a leaf. A few tears, the first she had cried since arriving here weeks ago, escaped from her eyes as she realized what she had screamed at Blue, what she had promised never to feel towards her friend. 

Would Blue forgive Nora after this? Would Blue forgive _herself_ ? Would Blue even think Nora still wanted to be friends after this, wanted to _help_ her after this? 

She had thought she knew what she might be getting into by pushing Blue to open up...but in forcing her, Nora had caused more harm than good. It made more tears fall as she thought about it. _What am I going to do now?_ She thought somberly, _How can I move forward after that?_

As she lay there in the rain, frozen inside and out, Linnea’s words came echoing back to her from so long ago. They haunted her with a new meaning when thinking about Blue.

_“The truth is, though, that there are some hurts and sorrows out there that can’t be fixed...”_

And that thought...that truth she didn’t want to admit...made Nora’s tears fall hardest of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...Nora kind of might have made things worse. Can't really blame her as she's only 14 and doesn't have the most life experience. Some life lessons sure hit hard.
> 
> Will say, writing the climax of this chapter took a few tries to get it just right. Didn't want to slow it down with too much description but I didn't want to have it over too quickly without proper build up. I think I struck a good balance though.


	5. To Bloom Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Got another chapter for you! Been traveling a lot so uploading is slow, but we're getting closer to the end! I was debating splitting this chapter into two...but I want to try to keep all the chapters a similar length and splitting it would have left one half much shorter. Instead, this one will just be slightly longer

The isolation and loneliness Nora felt in the following days was a kind she had not experienced since losing her mom. It was the kind she felt when her dad shut down and shut her out in his grief over Linnea’s death. It was the kind where even if she was standing right next to someone, someone she deeply cared about, she still felt utterly alone in a void. The difference was that when she first felt that kind of loneliness, Nora knew deep down it wasn’t her fault - even if she believed it was for a long time. The isolation she felt now _was_ a fault of her actions, even if she had the best of intentions.

It was horrible.

 _Blue_ was horrible.

The gyarados tried to keep up her calm façade, still caring deeply for Nora and doing anything she could to please her. She would still hold short, shallow chats with Nora, feigning interest in whatever the topic when she suspected Nora was catching on to her act (Nora always knew). But, the instant Blue started to get emotional, she would get as far away from the little bulbasaur as possible, choking down her feelings...which in turn only increased her sorrow and panic. It was a vicious cycle Nora had no power to break, no matter how much she tried.

 _No_...if Nora was being honest, she wasn’t trying as hard as she could to help her friend. The young grass type was...scared. She feared harming Blue worse than she already had with her thoughtless words. She...she just wanted so much for it to be easy to heal Blue, like a wilting flower that Nora only needed to give something simple like more sunlight or water to perk up. Nora had learned the hard way that the sea serpent’s feelings were a lot more complex than simply “sad” or “angry” and thereby had more than simple fixes. Blue’s emotions were a lethal cocktail that on the best of days she swallowed like a bitter medicine without complaint and on the worst of days completely intoxicated her beyond any semblance of reason. 

The worst part was that Nora couldn’t get as close to Blue as she had been allowed to before. It wasn’t that Blue didn’t trust Nora anymore. That would have almost been better. No, Blue didn’t trust _herself_ around Nora anymore. The gyarados kept a clear distance between them for (in her mind) Nora’s own safety. She wouldn’t wrap Nora up in a gentle embrace or let the little grass type climb on her head. She wouldn’t dare ask Nora to sing her to sleep, and instead Blue would stare lifelessly across the horizon, exhausted yet unable to settle down for any peaceful rest with her poisonous thoughts.

Blue was drowning right before Nora’s eyes, and after the incident between them, she believed she didn’t deserve to be saved.

Despite the seemingly impassable obstacles, Nora was adamant to not give up. Now more than ever, Blue needed her help. Nora promised to heal her, and that was one promise she would keep even if she broke all others. She just needed to figure out how. While their last...talk about the problem had resulted in numerous bad consequences, Nora had at last gleaned the real crux of Blue’s predicament. Blue didn’t remember what it was to be happy. All she could focus on was the pain and the sadness and the negativity. Nora had to show her it could be different. 

“Somehow...” Nora muttered as she trudged through the soggy wild grasses. She needed to devote more of her time to thinking lately, so she had picked up exploring the sanctuary again like she had when Blue used to sleep for days. Nora enjoyed far more freedom now without Blue keeping an eye on her and regularly seeking out her company, which only served as another frustration for Nora rather than a privilege. With a sigh, the bulbasaur kicked a mossy rock with her foot, watching it tumble sluggishly through the weeds.

 _She’s not going to just listen to any advice I give. I’ve learned that from plenty of trial and error_ , Nora thought with a troubled frown. _She’s stubborn, believes no one can understand how she feels..._

Nora chuckled wryly. “If only she knew I’ve felt _exactly_ how she has before... I was so rude to my friends after mom...after mom died...” Nora’s eyes pricked at the corners as she recalled how much she ranted and raved at her closest friends, even at her dad, when they tried to comfort her after she lost her mom. She had gotten so wrapped up in her own little world, so wrapped up in what she had lost that she childishly ignored what she still had. Even now, Nora was surprised she hadn’t scared off every friend she had with her behavior back then. 

It had taken an impassioned, blunt speech from one of her more...severe friends, a shiny larvitar named Tylla. Tylla had to literally drag the bulbasaur, kicking and screaming, to a gathering of all her friends in their favorite spot beneath Tabira’s great tree. Backed up by many of the other kids, Tylla had pretty much forced Nora to acknowledge that she wasn’t alone, that she still had so much to be happy about if she would stop “carrying on like a newborn bonsly” and look around her. It had been a harsh but much needed wake-up call that finally helped Nora start to overcome her grief. 

Nora wanted to help Blue move on in the same way, but while Nora had so many supporting her while she grieved, Blue had nothing. No home. No family. No friends. No love. All Blue had was this cold, grey, wetland that isolated and depressed her. _How can I help her focus on the positives if there aren’t any-_

Nora was suddenly yanked out of her thoughts as the ground suddenly fell away beneath her feet, and she tumbled end over end into a shallow ravine, hidden to the naked eye by the tall grasses. 

“Ow...” she groaned once the world stopped spinning. She rubbed around the star shaped marking on her forehead with a wince, certain there would be a bruise there tomorrow. Ignoring the slight throb in her head, Nora slowly opened her eyes to take in her new surroundings. Thankfully, this gulley wasn’t very deep or wide, and she should be able to climb her way back out fairly easily. 

“Dumb, overgrown, pesky swamp...” Nora grumbled as she used her vines to brush off clumps of dirt and torn-up grass she had collected in her tumble. She was about to lasso her vines around one of the rocks at the lip of the ravine to pull herself up, but then a flash of color caught her eye. 

Nudging aside some of the low hanging foliage, Nora cautiously walked further into the ravine in order to get a better look at whatever it was that shone bright against the grey environment. Worming her way past a bush with large rubbery leaves, the little bulbasaur’s rosy eyes lit up at what she found. A massive grin broke out across her face as a figurative light bulb went off in her head. A new plan was forming in her mind. It would take a bit of labor and a few days prep...but _it could work_!

Nora had found the _perfect_ way to get through to Blue.

***

“Blue! Blue! Come on, get up! I’ve got the coolest thing to show you!” Nora called, literally jumping up and down with excitement.

Nora kept her energy levels up extra high today. Of course, most of her excitement was genuine as she thought about the incredible surprise she had created for her friend. But, she also pushed to keep the cheerful grin plastered on her face to fight off the concern and hurt that came from seeing the gyarados before her in such a wretched state.

Nora had never seen Blue in anything less than a depressed mood, but this was the worst it had been since she had first arrived well over a month ago. Forcing down her emotions and restraining her powers, keeping all of it tightly bottled up inside, was making the water type _physically_ ill. Her azure scales, while a bit dull before, had tarnished to a slate blue-gray. The dark circles beneath her eyes had gotten blacker, the whites of her eyes a bloodshot red. The blue-white frills along her back had slowly drained of color as well, now a dirty tangled mess. She kept her long body coiled tightly in on itself, her movements brittle when she was finally forced to shift positions (usually to get away from Nora). 

This Blue looked every bit like an old sea hag, and Nora feared if she continued on like this, her friend would waste away completely...or one day the violent storm building inside her would slip beyond her control and destroy everything. 

_No, it won’t get that far_ , Nora thought with determination as she felt her smile start to wane, _This ends today. My surprise will make her happy._

Balancing upright on her stubby back legs, Nora pushed insistently against Blue’s side with her front legs. “ _Blue!_ PLEASE! Come on! You’ve got to see this!” she repeated. The sea serpent’s eyes slowly rolled back to regard the shiny bulbasaur. It felt like hours before the faint reply came.

“...if it would please you so.” Nora’s grin widened, practically splitting her face in two, and stars shone in her eyes.

“YES! Yes, it really would!” Blue let out a tired sigh before slowly unwinding her form. Literally shaking with glee, Nora took off through the fields, leaving Blue to follow her. They didn’t get very far, however, before Nora came to a sudden halt.

“Is something wrong?” Blue asked. 

“Oh, no,” Nora replied with a shake of the head, “I almost forgot that you have to close your eyes!” The gyarados tilted her head to the side, clearly perplexed.

“Why? How will I even be able to follow you if I can’t see?”

“Because it’s a surprise! You’ll just have to listen for the sound of my voice,” Nora answered mischievously. Blue looked less than thrilled by that prospect.

“If you lead me into a tree or a boulder...” she muttered under her breath, but obeyed all the same. Nora internally breathed a sigh of relief. Since Blue was so large, Nora didn’t want her spotting her surprise long before Nora herself could get to it. Maintaining lively conversation for her friend to follow, the little bulbasaur continued trotting along through the plains.

“ _And..._ stop!” Nora called out loudly as she came to a halt. She was fizzy as a shaken soda pop with anticipation and excitement. “Open your eyes!”

Blue’s heavy lids slowly lifted, her tired navy eyes widening as she was greeted by the sight of a field of vibrant, blooming flowers. The petals were a brilliant golden yellow at the center that faded into a blush pink at the ends. The little garden didn’t spread far, only about ten feet around, but every plant was in full bloom, healthy and strong. Against the surrounding muted greys and blue-greens of the saturated wild grasses, each blossom radiated warmth almost like a miniature sun. Blue was completely entranced by the sight.

“It-It’s...beautiful...” she whispered in awe once she remembered how to work her vocal chords, “I...I didn’t think...didn’t _hope_ such lovely things could still grow here...”

“Me neither!” Nora heartily agreed, “But I found these flowers growing in a hidden ravine. Imagine that! In spite of all the rain and weeds trying to choke them out, these flowers found a way to survive. All they needed was a little TLC in order to bloom again!” Nora looked up at stunned gyarados, and her thrilled grin softened a bit into a more cautious but hopeful smile. “...and I think the same goes for you...”

Blue’s head turned down sharply to gaze at Nora as she caught the bulbasaur’s meaning, her eyes drooping as her expression twisted into a pained frown. “My darling...I-I...I’m not...it’s more _complicated_ than that...you know, I can’t...” Blue couldn’t even properly articulate how she felt without moisture collecting around the corners of her eyes, and she turned away from Nora, trying to regain her composure.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Nora kept her tone gentle and understanding, knowing she was retreading old footsteps out on thin ice, “We can talk about this, even talk about...last time. It’ll make you feel better, Blue.” 

The water type rapidly shook her head, “I-I can’t...I _c-c-can’t!_ What if, what if...you could be...!” Her entire body was shaking. Nora could hear Blue’s sharp teeth grinding together as she desperately fought to keep the tight seal on her emotions.

A familiar low rumble echoed, causing both mons to look upwards at the sky. Grey clouds were gathering and darkening the sky. A storm was brewing. It broke Nora’s heart to see Blue’s watery eyes full of fear as she stared at the clouds, several tears escaping down her cheeks despite her best efforts. Her royal blue orbs darted to the flowers, to Nora, then back to the sky again.

“I have to leave...get away from h-here...b-before I...” she said with a wobbling gasp as she started to back away. 

“No, wait!” Nora pleaded, “Don’t go! Please, Blue, stay!” The sea serpent froze, torn between her need to protect the little bulbasaur and her desire to give in to her demands in order to please her.

“B-But, the flowers...I’ll ruin it all! Like I always do...” Blue insisted despondently. Nora was having none of it.

“These flowers are a lot tougher than you think!” She stamped her foot for emphasis and puffed her chest out stubbornly, “The wind might howl and the rains might pour, but _they’ll_ remain rooted right here. _They’ve_ weathered the storms so far so... don’t worry about hurting them. You can - no, you _need to_ let it all out, for your own health!” she offered a reassuring smile, “I trust you, Blue.” 

More tears escaped, but Blue still fought against the inevitable breakdown. “You don’t...under-understand... I can’t just...just let it all g-go. There’s _so_ much!” she whispered before thickly swallowing an oncoming sob, “S-so much hurt...so much t-that will never be the same... It-It’s so _hard_...!”

Nora was silent for several moments. “...I know how you feel,” she said lowly, honestly.

“You do?” There was so much vulnerability in those two words, raw like a fresh wound and bleeding with desperation. The young grass type tilted her head up to meet the gyarados’s gaze, her rose-colored eyes filled to the brim with empathy.

“I might not have suffered as much as you or as long as you...but I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. When I was around five, I lost my mom,” she explained. Nora’s voice had a sort of solemn wisdom that made her sound many times her age. “She was a roserade, shiny just like me! I don’t remember too much about her...but I know she was so kind and lovely. She was a brave warrior who couldn’t be defeated, yet she was so calm and gentle when tending her garden. I thought...I thought she would always be there for me...” 

Nora felt her eyes burn as salty liquid collected around the rims, but this time she let the tears fall. She let her pain be seen, open and ugly as it may be. She took a deep breath to collect herself before continuing, looking back up at Blue.

“One day...she got sick. The doctors said it was just a common cold, nothing to worry over. A day or two to run its course, and she would be fine. But...she wasn’t. After a few days, her symptoms got worse. After a week, she didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed. Then...” Nora almost choked on the words, “she was gone. In her sleep...just like that...gone forever. It’s been years now...and...I-I’m still not ok about it. My dad only just started talking about her again a few years ago,” she gave a watery chuckle, “and I can barely talk about her without bawling. But, I’ve learned that I can’t hold on to all the sadness. I _have_ to talk about it, and I _have_ to keep living every day to the fullest, like she would have wanted me to.” 

Nora scooted up closer before hugging Blue’s middle with her forelegs and her vines as tightly as she was able. Above her, there was a muffled sob.

“I want to help you, Blue. _Let me_ help you. Before, what I said...it was wrong of me to just boil down what you were feeling and push you when you weren’t ready yet. If you feel sad, it’s okay to cry,” she glanced up at Blue who was adamantly keeping her eyes on the sky even as tears were now constantly leaking down her face, “It’s okay to feel bad, but don’t be afraid to let yourself feel good too. I know it feels like you’ll be disrespecting her memory if you let go of your grief...trust me, I’ve been there...but _you_ have to try. I’ll be by your side the whole time, _I promise._ ”

A pregnant silence.

A watery gasp.

A tearful sniffle.

Then, Blue’s walls finally came crashing down and the pent-up ocean of feelings she kept inside came rushing out in a torrential flood. Loud, uncontrollable, hiccupping sobs wracked her body. Even if she wanted to, the melancholy dragon had no strength left to fight them, and for the first time in years, she truly just let everything go.

A thunderous rumble was the only forebear before the clouds finally let down a heavy downpour. There was no wind, just the steady pounding of a thousand fat droplets against the earth. It was impossible to discern the rivers of tears Blue shed from the dense rainfall...a fact for which the gyarados was grateful.

Through it all, Nora held tight in her hug, trying to pass on as much love and sympathy as she could to her weeping friend. The storm didn’t scare her like before. She trusted Blue would never hurt her. She only loosened her grip a bit when she felt the serpentine form shifting beneath her before coiling around her, cautious but protective. The shiny bulbasaur looked up to see Blue gazing down at her. She was still sobbing, but for a split second, her mouth curved into the tiniest of broken smiles. That was all the young grass type could catch before Blue moved her tailfin overtop Nora to shield her from the downpour. 

For whatever reason, Blue always felt cool to the touch (she was _especially_ now), but wrapped up as she was, the caring gesture warmed Nora to her very core. Exhausted from the emotional and mental toll of all that had transpired, she felt her eyelids drooping as it suddenly became immensely difficult to stay awake. This storm could last for some time, so Nora didn’t even put up a fight as slumber stole her away. 

She had hope that after the rain, the sun would shine again.

***

After that day, everything got better. It wasn’t all at once, of course, but it was the breakthrough Nora needed. _Finally_ , she had gotten through to the sorrowful sea serpent. Nora knew she was in for a long, _long_ haul of undoing all the damage Blue had done to herself. It took a week just to get the gyarados back to the same shoddy state of health she had been in when Nora first arrived...and that was more of a step back to normal (which was hardly an awesome way of life) than a true step forward. 

But, at least Blue was _attempting_ to help herself now. Nora had to give constant encouragement and direction to counteract all of her bad habits. Some days she made a lot of good progress. Some days were harder. Even on her lowest days, though, Nora stayed by Blue’s side to help her in any way she was able. 

Blue did what she could to reciprocate the shiny bulbasaur’s bottomless kindness. Sometimes, it was in little things like a hug or a story under the stars. Sometimes, it was in larger gestures like making a several hundred mile journey to surprise Nora with a particular food she had been longing for the day prior. Blue fretted that she could never repay Nora for all she had done (or all she had put up with, for that matter), but the grass type insisted that it was more than enough.

Today, Blue had promised a sunny day and a much-needed break from the seemingly eternal rainfall. Nora had made the off-hand remark that her make-shift garden of flowers (which now included violet and blood red flowers in addition to the yellow and pink ones) could use a little sunshine. She was surprised that _a)_ Blue had been watching her silently nearby, _b)_ the gyarados had heard her talking to herself, and _c)_ Blue had jumped at the chance to fulfill her request. She wasn’t about to complain, though, if it meant a change in the (admittedly) dreary weather.

“So, I thought you could only create storms whenever you start crying?” Nora asked as she sat on a mossy boulder, watching Blue in anticipation. 

Blue’s cheeks darkened with a faint indigo blush as she replied a bit sheepishly, “Yes... _that_ is an...unfortunate side effect, unique to me...that tends to happen a good deal more than I’d like. However, the _proper_ way to call down rainfall - or in this case to dispel it - is with a dance.” 

Nora let out a squeal of excitement, stars shining in her eyes. She had never seen Blue dance before. 

The gyarados cast a glance at Nora, suddenly feeling a wave of self-consciousness at having an audience, before taking a deep, calming breath in and out. She closed her eyes and a pale cyan energy veiled her form. She twisted her body in slow, sweeping movements that gradually built up speed as the dance progressed. Her steps had this odd, flowing rhythm that almost reminded Nora of the tide: elegant with an unspoken strength, harmonious yet unpredictable in where every gesture would crest and fall. The aura about her rippled like liquid glass, its ethereal glow reflecting off the morning dew in a way that made the scene truly surreal. The end to Blue’s dance was sharp and sudden, like a wave crashing on the shore, and the energy swirling in the air exploded outward in a blinding flash, dissipating the thick cloud cover.

Nora, having grown accustomed to the overcast daytime, squinted hard in the direct sunlight that now bathed the plains, warm and wonderful. After a few seconds, her eyes adjusted to the new brightness, and her mouth hung open at the sight of the bluest, clearest sky she had ever seen. She turned towards Blue who was watching her critically in anticipation.

“That. Was. AMAZING!” Nora gushed, bouncing up and down, “The sun feels so good! I almost forgot what it felt like! And-and you! Blue, you’re such a beautiful dancer! You were so graceful and calm and-wow! I _definitely_ prefer that to you crying.” 

“Y-you flatter me terribly, my flower,” Blue replied shyly, very flustered with her blush from before returning with a vengeance, “I’ve barely practiced in centuries...I’m sure I was hardly as flawless as you describe. Gyarados are certainly not known for their elegance, after all.”

“You’re the exception then, because it’s a hundred percent true!” Nora persisted, “Thank you, Blue! The flowers will love all the sunlight!” Pushing back her embarrassment, the water type got a mischievous glint in her royal blue eyes before she scooped Nora up and cuddled her tightly.

“Well, I didn’t do all this to please the _flowers_ . All that matters to me is if _my_ flower loves it,” she said sweetly. Nora giggled and made a playful attempt at trying to get free. After a few minutes, Blue loosened her grip and let the bulbasaur slide down her scales to the ground. Nora toddled over to care for her garden while Blue relaxed nearby.

The two sat enjoying the sun’s rays for several hours. Nora would talk every once and a while or hum a little tune, but mostly they allowed a content quiet to blanket the area. Nora wove a crown of dandelions for herself and was weaving together a similar bracelet around the thinnest segment of Blue’s tail when a wistful sigh drew her eyes upward away from her project. The gyarados had a familiar pensive look on her face, one that gave away that she was deep in thought.

“Is everything okay, Blue?” Nora asked. The sea serpent blinked before looking down at the slightly concerned grass type. 

“Yes...yes, I’m fine,” she replied with a nod, “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Nora asked curiously. One of the habits she had really been pushing with Blue was sharing her thoughts, just to get them out of her head before they became a tangled, overwhelming mess.

“I...I owe so much to you, darling,” Blue said after a moment, “I don’t think you could ever comprehend how much you’ve done for me. It’s a debt I doubt I could ever repay.” Nora smiled, even as her rosy gaze narrowed a bit in exasperation.

“I _told_ you, Blue, that you don’t have to repay me. I helped you because I wanted to, nothing else. That’s what friends are for!” Blue tilted her head to the side, conflicted and contemplative.

“So you’ve said many a time before...but still, I want to do something for you. You’ve shared so much so freely with me. Your kindness, your patience, the stories and secrets of your life...I...I want to share something with you as well...something of myself.”

The shiny bulbasaur just cocked her head in confusion. Blue swallowed thickly before speaking again.

“I-I want to answer the first question you ever asked me...I think I’m strong enough to do that...” 

All the time that Nora had spent in the sanctuary had started to blur together in the young mon’s mind, and she wracked her brain on what she could have possibly asked...yet came up empty. “What’s that?” she asked awkwardly at length. Blue took in a shaky breath before answering in an almost inaudible whisper, “Who is...who _was_ my beloved?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that was a much happier read than last chapter! It certainly was to write. Nora is so sweet it gives me cavities. Get ready for a lot of backstory lore stuff for Blue next chapter! Hopefully I'll have that posted in the next couple of days.
> 
> Also, I've not said it much because I don't like to shamelessly beg...but please leave me a comment if you like the story! Even if you hated it, I love feedback. It's like a steroid shot to my writing skills and it helps so much to get me writing more. Even just a kudos is nice. Thanks.


End file.
